Fireworks burst with color over the Rock River in downtown Rockford to cap off the celebrations of the Fourth of July in 2022. (Photo by Hans Rupert/Special to the Rock River Current)
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The committee that puts on the city’s annual Fourth of July festivities has been forced to stretch its dollars in recent years.

Ted O’Donnell, who co-chairs the Rockford Fourth of July Civic Committee with his cousin Tom Luepkes, said there has been a 40% drop in donation levels.

“We have gotten down to it where we had literally $4 in our checking account after writing the last check on the Fourth of July,” O’Donnell said on This Week in the Stateline. “So when we say every dollar counts we really mean it.”

Putting on the fireworks display itself costs about $61,000 to hire the pyrotechnics crew, O’Donnell said. But the overall cost is up to $90,000 for all the festivities.

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For years, the late Joe Marino, O’Donnell’s uncle, boasted bigger and better shows each Fourth of July. O’Donnell said the committee feels it owes it to Rockford not to cutback on the show.

“We’ve had to look at cutting our show back,” he said. “But then we of course remember what Uncle Joe said, and we have to keep that bar high so we’ll have to cut other places.”

The display is handled by Pyrotechnico, the largest fireworks show designer in North America. It has handled major displays such as the Super Bowl half time show, concerts and other events.

The civic committee has been organizing the annual event since 1963. It’s funded entirely by donations with no tax dollars.

“We’re not braggers or boasters, but we’re very proud of our show,” O’Donnell said. “We’re very proud of what we’re able to bring to our city.”

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With less than two months to go before the Tuesday night fireworks show, O’Donnell said they need to make a push for donations. The work leading up to the event is exhausting and nerve-racking, O’Donnell said, but it pays off once the first shells explode in the sky.

“Then on the day of you look at the crowd and you see the facial expression during that first shell going off during our National Anthem. You get the feels, and then you see the reflections on all the children that are there with their parents,” he said. “Everybody for 30 minutes is all looking at the sky as one community, and it’s the most wonderful feeling you can possibly have.

“So I guess that’s my fuel.”

How to donate

Online: You can donate online here.

By check: Mail to: Rockford 4th of July Civic Committee, 728 N. Prospect St., Suite 107, ​Rockford IL, 61107

More info: 4thandlights.com


This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas.

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